Art Nouveau in France, Episode 97

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Today Elyse explains the Art Nouveau movement in France. She concentrates in particular on Hector Guimard and the specifics of how this art movement manifested itself in France.

This design style is very ornate with curvy lines and intricate decorative elements. The artists rejected the whole idea of mass production brought about by the industrial revolution. As a result their art did not spread far and wide as did successor Art Deco.

And, by the way, what is the difference between ifference between Art Nouveau and Art Deco? Elyse explains!

Art Nouveau in France

Art Nouveau happened in many countries, but under different names and with different stylistic choices. In England for instance it was called "The Modern Style". This movement began in Scotland but soon took off in many countries. It only lasted officially for 20 years, from 1890 until 1910. In France, Belgium and Catalonia the movement gave shape to the idea that nature needed to be represented in all its organic forms, with curvy lines and pleasant shapes.

Don't Miss in Paris

If you enjoy Art Nouveau, there are two places you should not skip in Paris:

29 avenue Rapp in the 7th arrondissement, see photo below. This is a building called "immeuble Lavirotte". The photo doesn't do it justice, so when you go pay attention to all the curves and the small details. It is exquisite!

The Orsay Museum has an impressive collection of furniture and objects that highlight the time period extremely well. Look for the "Arts décoratifs" area. It is not nearly as crowded as the post-impressionist paintings section, but it is extensive and lovely.

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Hi Annie & Elyse I loved your episode on Art Nouveau! When I was in Paris last August, I caught the train to Nancy for the day. I visited Ecole de Nancy which was just fabulous, I’ve never seen such a fantastic display of art nouveau furniture, fittings and objects. The quality of the art nouveau features there was incredible. After the Ecole I went to Place Stanislas and walked around Nancy, amazed by the architecture, and then visited the Museum of Fine Arts which had a huge collection of glass objects such as the ones you spoke about. Even… Read more »

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Annie Sargent is the producer of the Join Us in France Travel Podcast. She lives in France with her husband and daughter. We're a French-American family: Annie born and raised in France but lived in the US for 20 years, David born and raised in the US but living in France for over 13 years.
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